Letter-box.



W. C. MARTINEAU.

LETTER BOX.-

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29,191]- 1,156,914. I Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

INVENTO'R AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA c.

w. c. MARTINEAU.

LETTER BOX.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, I 9 I l Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- 'lection of mail matter.

TlTTE WILL AM 0.. ivmnrnvnnu, or ALBANY, NEW YORK.

LETTER-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Got. 1c, 1915;

Application filed March 29, 1911. Serial No. 617,691.

To all whom it may concern. 7 Be it known that 1, WILLIAM 'riNnAU, acitizen of the'United States, and

a resident of the city and county of Albany,

New York, have invented certain new and useful. Improvements in LetterBoxes, of

which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to boxes such as are secured to posts or buildingsin streets or other public places for the depositand col- It is intendedto produce a box for this or like purposes,

which shall be of simple constructionydura ble, easily operated both inits receiving'and discharging" functions, protected from weather, proofagainst pilfering' or other tampering, and which shall automaticallyindicate the time of next collection. F111. ther objects of theinvention will appear from this specification and be pointed out in theclaim. i

The drawings show a preferred form off;

my device, Figure 1 being 'a front elevation thereof, partly brokenaway; Figs. :2 and 3 vertical sections through a' planedrawn just withinthe case at the left end of Fig. 1 showing differentpositions ofthemoving parts,'the-end wall of the box being removed for this purpose.

11 designates the casing of my box, of V which 12 is a front wall havingat its upper end an incurved portion 13; 14, 15, end walls; 16, a bottomwall; 17, a rear wall; 18, an inturned flange or shoulder; and 19, ahead, consisting of an arc-shaped portion 20 and a hood 21; an openingor mouth 22 being provided between the edge 23 of the hood 21 and thecurved portion 13 of the.

front wall. Hinged at 24 to the lower edge of the short front wall 12 isa drop door 25 having at each of its ends inwardly project ingarc-shaped wings 26, and at its lower edge an inwardly projecting bead27, the free faces28 and 29 of whichare curved for a purpose to behereafter described. Near the lower edge of the door 25 is a staple 30carrying a bent hasp 31 engageable with a staple 32 on the bottom wall16 of the casing,

and securable by a padlock 33. On this bottom wall of the casing arealso two for wardly projecting hooks 34, adjacentthe ends of the casing.l/Vithin the casing 11 is a curved plate 35 secured atits upper edge tothe rear wall 17 approximately mid-;

way of its height and at its lower edge to the front edge of the bottomwall 16, and

C. MAR- substantially filling the space between the wings 26 of the door25. Within the head portion 19 ofthe casing 11 is a substantiallycyllndric, sheet'metal roll 36 rotatable ontrunnio-ns 37 which passthrough the sides of'the casing and are provided exterior of thecasing-with lever handles 38, having at the lower portion 43 being ofsomewhat"reduced diameter, forming two shoulders 44,

45. Mounted on trunnions. 46 in the "side walls-14 and 15 of thecasingis a roller 47, the periphery ofwhich is approximately in contact withthe curved portion 13 of the front wall 12, the roller being providedattheir ends weighted knobs 39. Two longitu dinal partitions 40 in theroll 36 inclose'av spaceor'slot open at both sides so as, to provide afree passage through the roll.

one of'its' ends with a pinion-48. 'On "the 1 face of the roller isaplurality of legends indicating the hours at which'mail is col- Ilected, which are successively visible through a preferably glazedopening 49 in the wall 12 of the casing. On the door25 is-abracket 50,on which is pivoted a weighted pawl 51 engaging with the teeth of thepinion 48.

A bracket 52 on the front wall12 also car ries a pawl 53 engageable withthese teeth.

The operation of this preferred form of my device shown and described isas follows: The parts normally are in the position shown in Fig. 1, thedoor 25 being closed and locked, and the heavy .knobs 39 acting to holdthe roll 36 with the-slot or passage between the partitions 40substantially hori zontal and its contracted mouth 41 forward andprojected from the weather by the hood 21. The roll is held in thisposition by the i impingement of the shoulder 44 onthe inner 1 edge ofthe portion 13 of the front'wall 12. A letter or the like is depositedin the box by slipping itinto the passage in the roll 36 and turning theroll by a handle 38 to the position shown in Fig. 3, when the letterdrops on the plate 35. j The stop 45, striking against the edge of thepart 13, prevents the rotationof the roll 36 beyond its dunap- V v ingposition, and the weight of the knobs 39 acts to return it to normalposition as soon as they are released by the depositor. By reason of theuniformly contracted mouth 41 of the slot, any paper or packet that canbe forced thereinto will drop freely therefrom into the body of the box.l/Vhen the mail collector desires to empty the box, he removes thepadlock 33, and may hang his bag, not shown, by means of rings usuallyprovided thereon, on the hooks 34, so that one side of the mouth of thebag is just under the front lower edge of the box. He then opens thedoor 25, when all the articles in the box, resting on the inclined plate35, drop of their own weight into the. bag, so that the collector is notobliged to insert his hand intothe box. The curved lower edge 28 of thebead 27 fits snugly against the plate to prevent a letter slippingtherebetween, while its angular upper edge 29 prevents the holding of aletter thereon and insures its dropping into the bag. The head itselfhas a double function; to stiffen'the lower edge of the door, and toprevent the introduction of a jimmy or other tool for prying open acorner of the door. The Wings 26 on the door assist in both thesefunctions, and also serve to prevent any letters from dropping outsidethe bag. When the door 25 is opened,the pawl 51 engages with the toothof the ratchet pinion 48 next below the tooth last engaged, so that theclosing of the door acts to turn the roller 47 one step,

thereby showing through the opening 49 the hour of the next collection.The other pawl 51 serves to prevent an accidental retrograde movement ofthe roller.

It will be understood that many mechanical changes may be made in mydevice without departing from my invention. Also that certain of itsfeatures may be employed Without certain others. Thus, the depositingroll; the time indicating roller; the means, as plate 35, for preventingthe mail matter from lodging on the bottom of the box; the bag holdinghooks; and the antitampering devices on the door; act each independentlyof the others, and each may therefore be used in a box lacking some orall of the others.

I do not therefore desire to be limited as to the scope of my inventionexcept as set forth in the subjoined claim.

What I claim is:

A mail box including a body portion; a head comprising an arc-shapedportion and a 'hood; an approximately cylindric roll rotatably mountedin said head, a substantial segment of said roll being of a diameter tofit within said arc-shaped portion and asecond segment thereof being ofsomewhat reduced diameter, whereby two longitudinal shoulders are formedin said roll; and a stop for alternately engaging each of saidshoulders.

WILLIAM G. MARTINEAU. Witnesses: 4

GEO. L. COOPER, ELIZABETH C. BAKEMAN.

7 Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

